Expansible stationery container



Dec. 21, 1965 w. TILTON, JR 3,224,661

EXPANSIBLE STATIONERY CONTAINER Filed June 6, 1963 38 f :17 6- INVENTOR 3 3| WEBSTER TlLTON,Jr. 39

United States Patent M 3,224,661 EXPANSIBLE STATIONERY CONTAINER Webster Tilton, Jr., 2720 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Washington, D.C. Filed June 6, 1963, Ser. No. 285,949 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-72) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in stationery containers, and in particular the invention concerns itself with certain improvements in expansible stationery containers to the general type disclosed in my co-pending patent application Serial No. 264,877, filed March 13, 1963, of which this application is a continuation-in-part.

My application Serial No. 264,877 discloses an expan sible container in which stationery such as accounting booklets, for example, may be stored, the container having a hinged cover and resilient fastening means being provided for both biasing the container to its contracted position and for holding the cover closed. The principal object of the present invention is to structurally and functionally improve upon the resilient fastening means, including the provision of an adjustment which renders the fastening means selectively usable under different conditions of fullness of the container.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an expansible stationery container of the invention in an open position;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the container in its closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the closed container as viewed from the rear;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing one of the eyelets in the container cover and associated elastic cord;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail, showing one of the keyhole eyelets in the container and the associated cord; and

FIGURE 6 is a group diagrammatic illustration of the container in different stages of expansion.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the improved container of the invention designated gen erally by the reference numeral 30 may be used for storage of stationery such as accounting booklets, or the like. As in my earlier application Serial No. 264,877, the container 30 is of an expansible and contractible type with Zig-zag folded side walls 31, a front wall 32, a back wall 33 and a zig-zag folded bottom (not shown). A

plurality of partitions 34 may be provided in the con-- tainer, and the back wall 33 is extended to form a flexible cover 35.

The invention provides improved means for fastening the cover 35 and biasing the container to its contracted position, these means comprising a resiliently yieldable yoke 36 consisting of a pair of elastic cords 37 which are connected together at one end thereof by a connector element 38 having an enlarged head. The other ends of the elastic cords 37 have secured thereto bar-like anchor members 39 which are removably receivable in and selectively engageable with pairs of circular eyelets 40, 41 provided in the cover 35. FIGURE 4 typifies the arrangement of the eyelets 40, 41 and it will be apparent 3,224,661 Patented Dec. 21, 1965 that the bar-like anchor members 39 may be passed longitudinally through the eyelets and thereupon turnedto lie fiat against them, to prevent the cords 37 from being withdrawn. The connector element 38 of the yoke 36 is removably receivable in keyhole eyelets 42, 43, the former of which is disposed in the lower portion of the front wall 32 while the latter is in the lower portion of the back wall 33.

With the arrangement as shown in FIGURE 1, booklets may be placed in the open container and the container cover 35 may then be closed as shown in FIGURE 2. The elastic yoke 36 may be stretched to permit engagement of the connector 38 in the keyhole eyelet 42 of the front wall 32, whereby the cover will be held in its closed position and, at the same time, the container will be biased to its contracted form. If the container does not hold a suflicient quantity of contents to stretch the elastic yoke 36 by engagement of the connector 38 with the keyhole eyelet 42, the connector may be engaged with the keyhole eyelet 43 in the rear wall 33 of the container, as is diagrammatically shown in FIGURE 6. Alternatively, if the container becomes substantially expanded by its contents, the elastic cords 37 may be withdrawn from the anchor eyelets 40 and installed in the eyelets 41, so that in any event, the booklets in the container may be properly accommodated in a compact manner by the resilient biasing of the yoke.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

An expansible stationery container formed from flexible cardboard-like material and having a panel-like front and rear walls, an open top, pleated side and bottom walls extending between said front and rear walls whereby the distance between the front and rear walls may be increased and decreased and the resultant capacity of the container varied by respectively expanding and contracting the pleated side and bottom walls, a flexible cover for the open top of the container connected at its rear edge to the upper edge of the rear wall and extending forwardly therefrom over the open top, the front end portion of said cover constituting a flap superposed exteriorly on said front wall when the cover is closed, and adjustable means for releasably retaining said cover in its closed position and simultaneously biasing said front and rear walls toward each other, said means comprising an elongated fastener member consisting of a pair of mutually divergent elastic elements, a pair of anchors secured to the respective divergent ends of said elements, and a connector secured to the convergent ends of said elements of said fastener member, a first pair of transversely spaced eyelets provided in said flap, a second pair of transversely spaced eyelets provided in an intermediate portion of said cover overlying the container top, said pair of anchors being selectively engageable with said first and second pairs of eyelets whereby to vary the location at which said fastener member is anchored to said cover and flap, and front and rear connecting means provided on said front and rear walls respectively, said connector being selectively engageable with said front connecting means 3 when said fastener member extends over said flap to said front wall and with said rear connecting means when the fastener member is extended under the container bottom to said rear wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 554,574 2/1896 Bennett 129-l5 Scott 22936 Stephenson 129-15 Doughty 12915 Kennedy 281-31 Schwinger 22972 Haas 22936 Kruysman 22977 FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

6/1920 Jongepier 283--63 10 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner. 

